Wake Forest clamps down on Notre Dame. 3 takeaways from Demon Deacons’ ACC Tournament win
It’s postseason hopes uncertain, Wake Forest strengthened its NCAA case Wednesday and earned an opportunity to take a larger step.
The No. 5 seed Demon Deacons toppled No. 12 seed Notre Dame, 72-59, in an ACC Tournament second-round game, moving Wake Forest into a key game with No. 4 seed Pittsburgh on Thursday.
Having not played in the NCAA Tournament since 2017, Wake Forest (20-12) saw a three-game losing streak during the last two weeks of the regular season damage its hopes for an at-large bid. The first of those losses came Feb. 27 at Notre Dame, which edged the Deacs, 70-65.
Wake Forest halted its losing streak with an 81-76 win over Clemson in the regular-season finale on Saturday and now has back-to-back wins entering Thursday’s game, which has important NCAA selection ramifications.
Pittsburgh (21-10) is also in the running for an at-large bid, barring an ACC Tournament championship. The winner of the Wake-Pitt quarterfinal game will feel far better about its chances while the losing team will have a nervous weekend awaiting Sunday’s bracket reveal.
Against Notre Dame on Wednesday, Kevin “Boopie” Miller scored 17 points while Andrew Carr produced 12 points and 11 rebounds for the Deacs.
An important win away from home
Wake Forest built its tournament resume on a sterling home record. The Demon Deacons finished 16-1 at the Joel Coliseum, including an 83-79 win over Duke on Feb. 24 that preceded the three-game losing streak.
But the Demon Deacons have the reputation as home court heroes because they went 2-9 in true road games this season. That doesn’t figure to sit well with the selection committee.
Wednesday’s neutral-court win helps. Wake Forest is now 2-2 in neutral-court games, which is, of course, where NCAA Tournament games are played.
Slowing Burton early
The Notre Dame player that hurt the Deacs the most when the teams played in South Bend, Indiana, last month had Wake Forest’s full attention this time.
Burton, voted the ACC’s rookie of the year this season, scored 31 points last time against the Deacs. On Wednesday, Wake held him to nine first-half points while building a 40-34 halftime lead. A 42.7% shooter this season, Burton made just two of his first 11 shots on Wednesday and didn’t break into double figures until 12:30 remained in the game.
Burton finished with 21 points, scoring 12 of them at the free throw line where he didn’t miss on Wednesday. But he only made 4 of 16 shots from the field, including 1 of 6 on 3-pointers.
Wake survives Sallis struggles
Wake’s leading scorer with 18.3 points per game this season, all-ACC guard Hunter Sallis was on his game in the game’s first eight minutes. He scored 10 of Wake’s first 20 points as the Deacons jumped to a 20-9 lead.
Sallis trailed off dramatically, missing six shots in a row after making three of his first five. But it didn’t stop Wake from advancing thanks to strong games from Miller and Carr.
Sallis finished 4 of 14 from the field with 14 points.
This story was originally published March 13, 2024 at 5:00 PM.